Toshiaki Imada, Ph.D.

Research Professor

Bio

Dr. Toshiaki Imada is a Research Professor in the UW Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences and Technical Director of the I-LABS MEG Brain Imaging Center.

Dr. Imada trained in electric and electronics engineering, graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1971, and received his Ph.D. from the same university in 1976. After joining Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) in 1976, he began conducting research on human visual information-processing mechanisms from a psychological, physiological, and engineering point of view. He has worked for NTT for 26 years.

In 1984, Dr. Imada started researching human auditory and visual information-processing in the brain using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique. In Japan, he was the first to record spontaneous magnetic activity and visually-evoked magnetic activity in the brain using a single-channel SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) system.

Since then, Dr. Imada has been working on brain information-processing mechanisms using various neuroimaging methods. He has published influential papers on MEG and other neuroimaging methodologies, and on brain mechanisms, especially auditory and visual information-processing mechanisms. He is also interested in computer modeling of brain mechanisms, and is the author of the Japanese book Artificial Intelligence. He also wrote chapters in two Japanese books about MEG, Neuromagnetism and Fundamentals and Clinical Application of Magnetoencephalography.

Dr. Imada currently serves on the board of directors of the Japan Biomagnetism and Bioelectromagnetics Society (chaired by Professor Shinya Kuriki).
The Finnish newspaper Tekniikka ja Talous (Technology and Economy) has reported on Dr. Imada's work on brain mechanisms. The Japanese newspapers Asahi, Nikkei, and others have written about his research on the human auditory system, which has also been widely covered by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK (Nippon HosoKyokai).

Dr. Imada lives in Seattle with his family. He enjoys tennis, skiing, and the traditional Japanese mental games "go" and "shogi." He also likes to travel.

Publications

Auditory Functions

Watanabe, M., & Imada, T. (2003). Off-response to pure tone is not enhanced by the previous tone presented to the other ear. The Journal of Japan Biomagnetism and Bioelectromagnetic Society, 16, 110-111. [In Japanese]